INTERMEDIATE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE SOURCE CODE IN THE RUSTC COMPILER
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24867/33BE08BajatKeywords:
rustc, compiler, intermediate representationsAbstract
This paper explores the architecture of the Rust compiler's (rustc) frontend, focusing on the crucial role of intermediate representations (IRs) of source code in the compilation process. Phases from lexical analysis and parsing to the generation of the Abstract Syntax Tree (AST), through the High-Level Intermediate Representation (HIR), Typed HIR (THIR), to the Mid-Level Intermediate Representation (MIR) are analyzed. The paper explains how each of these representations enables key features of the Rust language, including type checking, error diagnostics, incremental compilation, borrow checking, and preparation for further optimization and code generation in LLVM. The aim is to demonstrate how generation of compiler infrastructure contributes to Rust's guarantees of memory safety and high performance.
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